Strategies For Transforming Your Perception of Data To Help Your Students SucceedBy Alex KajitaniWhat single factor ultimately determines whether a student is an at-promise student? It’s not work ethic, as we all know students who don’t like to work hard, but are still bright enough to make it through high school and even college. It’s not ethnicity, as we all know students of different ethnicities who are low, and high, achievers. Nor is it gender, socioeconomics or the neighborhood they live in.
What ultimately determines whether a student is an at-promise student is the data we have collected on them.
Low test scores, year after year, have labeled more students “at-promise” than any other single factor. In California, like in many states, students are labeled as “Far Below Basic, Below Basic, Basic, Proficient, or Advanced.” A student who consistently scores in the “Far Below Basic” category is indicative of a student at risk for dropping out of school. Of course, embedded in labels such as these are a multitude of complex factors such as work ethic, home life, socioeconomics and ethnicity. But, at the end of the day, it is the test data that determines the label in official terms.
This school year, as part of my duties as a Teacher on Special Assignment for my school district, I am charged with the task of helping our district actually use our masses of collected data to help students, teachers, administrators and schools improve and succeed. This task has been nothing short of enlightening — and inspiring — for me, as my perceptions of data as having incredibly positive potential for our schools (as opposed to the darker side of data that puts us teachers on the constant defensive) have certainly shifted. As I go into our schools each week and talk with fellow educators about how we can actually use all this data we collect — in big and small ways, in our classrooms and offices each day — I’m seeing many of their perceptions begin to shift as well.
How Do We Define Data?
Businesses have always relied on sales data to reward and fire employees, project future earnings and plan strategically. Politicians have always relied on data, and many an election has been won (and lost!) based on effective use of data. As an industry, education is just beginning to grasp the importance of analyzing data to help our schools and students achieve. However, most of the data analysis methods that we use have been learned “on the job,” as traditional credential programs have not required data analysis coursework as part of their requirements.
Data, as defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is “Factual information used as a basis for reasoning, discussion or calculation.” In other words, it is not limited to just numbers, and data on our students does not just come to us in the form of spreadsheets and statistics. Data is information, and information that can be used to help our at-promise students is the best kind. Thus, although test scores are the most talked-about form of data in education, we needn’t limit “data collection” to that. Think of data as any factual information that can help us reach students.
How Can We Actually Use Data?
This month, I offer four strategies that educators can use to effectively use data to better understand at-promise students, respond to their needs, and redirect them onto the path to success as quickly as possible:
1. Data should be used to begin a conversation, not to end it.
As educators, we have an obligation to believe that all students can learn. Too often, we use data to justify why a student can’t learn, as opposed to using it as a lens through which we can carefully plan instruction. Consider the following examples of using data as the beginning, versus the end, of a conversation:
As the End of a Conversation…
“Gerald is a ‘far below basic’ student; he is going to have trouble completing this activity.” As the Beginning of a Conversation…
“Gerald scored ‘far below basic’ on our last test; what strategies can I use to help him complete this activity?” As the End of a Conversation…
“Half of my class is currently reading below grade level. I doubt we’ll be able to hit all of the state standards this year.” As the Beginning of a Conversation…
“With half of my class reading below grade level, I need to find ways to help them close the achievement gap, while at the same time challenging my students who are reading at grade level.” As the End of a Conversation…
"Two-thirds of my students’ parents never finished high school. They won’t be able to help their students with their homework.” As the Beginning of a Conversation…
“Two-thirds of my students’ parents never finished high school. What additional resources are available to help them?”
While the above examples may seem obvious in their nature, as teachers of at-promise students, it is often too easy to make excuses for why our students aren’t achieving, and use the data to back up our thoughts. Instead of using data to make statements, use data to ask questions.
2. Remember, behind every piece of data is a real student.
Last year, when analyzing some test scores, I noticed that one of my student’s scores had dropped significantly from his previous two test scores. I also noticed that he had not turned in some of his homework for the unit (he usually did). When I presented him with the data, he confided that his parents were splitting up, and that he hadn’t been sleeping much over the past two weeks.
While I was not well-informed on this student’s life at home, because I was familiar with his data, I was able to quickly identify what he needed, and arranged for him to meet with the counselor. And while the following months were a challenge to keep him focused on his academics, something that would have normally put him at-risk for failing instead put him “at-promise,” and he passed all his courses.
When we accept the data as real, then we accept it as a part of our students’ lives. Every piece of data tells a story. As teachers of at-promise students, it is our job to identify and understand those stories.
3. Data kept secret is useless (and even damaging).
As Damen Lopez, founder of the No Excuses Unversity (NEU) says, “Data does not belong to the teachers. It is on loan to us from the students that we serve.” And truly using the data “loaned to us” from students requires a group effort, and talking with one another about it.
In short, we can more effectively use data to help our students if we also use it to collaborate with our fellow teachers. When teachers work in a collaborative climate that encourages open communication around data, a teacher whose students scored low on a particular section of a recent test can identify teachers whose students scored well on that portion, and seek out their guidance and wisdom. A teacher whose students scored particularly well on a given portion should always be tapped to share their pedagogical practices, to elevate the teaching practices of the entire department.
With so many school districts moving toward a “Value Added” method of evaluating teachers, it is no surprise that many teachers are hesitant to share their data. It can be frightening in today’s climate. However, as educators, we must get past the stigma that “bad data” automatically means “bad teacher.” Instead, let’s use data to identify areas of strengths and weakness in our individual students, as well as with our students overall, and choose as a profession to shift our perception of data as our enemy to that of another colleague working with us to help our students succeed. Each time we do this, our students will ultimately benefit the most.
4. When possible, use analogies.
A colleague of mine recently described the achievement gap in a way that made everyone in the room understand it clearly. He said:
“Imagine all of the students except ours get in a big bus, and the bus takes off down the highway going 60 miles per hour. An hour later, our students get in a bus, which takes off going down the same highway, but at 50 miles per hour. Not only is that bus an hour behind, but at the rate it is going, our students will never catch up. The distance between the two buses is the achievement gap, and the only way to catch up to the first bus is to accelerate the bus, thus accelerating the learning.”
As everyone in the room nodded their heads in agreement, my colleague had brilliantly used a simple analogy to explain something as complex as the achievement gap, to which so many of our at-promise students fall prey.
Learning from this method, I recently used the following analogy to explain formative versus summative assessments:
“What’s the difference between an autopsy and an MRI?” (Long pause to give everyone in the room some think time.) “An autopsy is used after someone has died. It is used to answer the question, ‘What happened?’ While the results can be informative, there is no way to save the patient. All we can do is use the information we gain from the autopsy to hopefully help others in the future. This is similar to our end-of-year (summative) State Assessments. We get the results, but by then, it is too late. The students have moved on to another grade, and we are quite limited in what we can do with the information. On the other hand, an MRI is used to identify areas of weakness, and allows us to act in a timely manner, prescribing a course of action for treatment to help a patient survive. In education terms, treatment means prescribing intervention strategies that will get our at-promise students on the right path before they drop out. This is effectively using formative assessment.”
Like digging up the stories behind the data, I have found that creating analogies to describe the often-complex kinds and uses of data helps make it less intimidating, and helps us all understand how we can truly use data in positive ways to help our students.
Make Friends With Data
In sum, data is information that is valuable, useful and crucial to the success of our at-promise students, and to our own success as educators. By incorporating the above four techniques into your daily practice, you may find that your perception of the positive potential of data begins to shift dramatically. I truly hope it does, because as educators today, our choice is to embrace the data to elevate our profession and our students, or let it be our downfall.
Alex Kajitani is the 2009 California Teacher of the Year, and a Top-4 Finalist for National Teacher of the Year. Seeking a way to connect with his at-promise students, he began to combine hip-hop music with math lessons to engage students and "make math cool"; this was so successful it led him to create two CDs and a workbook (available at http://www.MathRaps.com). Now known around the country as "The Rappin' Mathematician," he has been featured on The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, and speaks to groups nationwide about teaching and education. His new book, How to Rock Middle School Math, is due out later this year. Alex is currently a Teacher on Special Assignment with the Escondido Union School District in Escondido, CA. Find more stories, strategies and inspiration at http://www.AlexKajitani.com/. |
